


hanging on to the deadlights (of the afterglow)

by Jenstar



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Angst with a Happy Ending, Burnish Galo Thymos, Character Death, Dimension Travel, Heavy Angst, M/M, Post-Canon, Temporary Character Death, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:09:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24343300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jenstar/pseuds/Jenstar
Summary: It’s just...nothing. There’s nothing. Lio finds himself standing in nothing, the expanse of darkness weighing thick and heavy in the air. He summons a small handful of the Promare in his hands, but it adds nothing.Panic begins to well in his chest and in his eyes, and soon he’s on his knees and weakly banging his fists onto nothing“Why can’t I save him?” he whispers in betweens tears. “What am I doing wrong?”We just have to try again!“I am trying!” Lio is yelling at nothing.“Yes, you are, but you need to try harder.”Lio freezes at the unfamiliar voice, it’s not full of impulsive, childlike chatter; it’s old and worn, slightly ragged and, actually, familiar.Or: The one where Lio traverses time and space to save his boyfriend.
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 37
Kudos: 155





	hanging on to the deadlights (of the afterglow)

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Promare One Year Anniversary! 
> 
> A few things to note:  
> \- There are mentions of blood throughout the fic.  
> \- There is a lot of dying.  
> \- Vomiting is mentioned twice.  
> \- There are two scenes that are a little saucy.  
> \- In regards to the mech and Burnish armor, let your imagination run wild.  
> [This FE3H fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20465192) (if you like FE3H and Sylvix, I highly recommend) planted the seeds for this fic a long while back. While my fic isn’t, like, the same, it is a little inspired by it, and I feel like I would be doing the fic a huge disservice if I didn’t mention it.

It first happens on March 19th. 

Lio feels his adrenaline pump to the beat of the blaring sirens as Burning Rescue barrels down the streets of Promepolis. The midnight moon hangs behind a curtain of smoke spiraling from the blazing inferno spitting out of a skyscraper. Lio can barely hear Aina’s voice from the intercom, his heart racing fast and loud in tandem with the beads of sweat trickling down the base of his spine.

It’s been a while since their last fire, and Lio finds himself brimming with nerves; it’s different when you’re working against the flames, he’s still not wholly used to it. He turns to his left and sees Gueira and Meis hunching over their knees with excited, toothy grins. Lio suppresses a smile; he’ll never get over how comfortable and good they look in their uniforms.

He feels a large, warm grip on his thigh and looks up to find a clear cerulean gaze projecting a comforting expression made complete by a curious, crimson dot at the center—the mark of a burning soul. It’s coupled with a dazzling smile.

“You doin’ alright, firebug?” Galo’s voice swirls with a mixture of concern and playfulness, and Lio can’t help but answer the question with a small smirk. 

“You think I’m fazed by a little fire?”

Galo’s laugh is bombastic and full of mirth, reverberating off the steely interior of the fire truck. 

“Nah, definitely not! Just makin’ sure my favorite partner is ready to roll.”

Lio rolls his eyes before tracing the line of Galo’s jaw until his fingers find his chin. He pulls Galo downward until their foreheads touch, a ritual they always share right before particularly dangerous calls. Lio relishes in the way Galo’s cheeks flush as red as cherries. 

“I’m your only partner,” he whispers right above the bow of Galo’s lips.

Somehow, Galo’s blush deepens, “You should really put your gloves on.”

“Hey, lovebirds!” Lucia shouts after a loud smack of her gum, “I need the two of you to suit up. Actually, all of you need to suit up. Aina says things are lookin’ kinda bad.”

Right on cue, a large explosion rattles the truck, and the duo stands along with the rest of their team, all eyes turn to Ignis for further instruction. 

“According to Aina, there aren’t many civilians trapped in the building, but they’re on different floors. I want Remi and Varys on rescue. Now.” 

“On it, Captain!” The two of them run off towards their mechs, and after a few moments, Lucia squeals as she hurdles them through the air towards the building with a press of a button. They all stare at the monitors until they see Remi and Varys safely land on the burning structure.

“The rest of you are tasked with getting that fire under control. Gueira and Meis will be taking care of the east side while Galo and Lio tackle the west. Understood?”

“Yes sir!” 

The remaining four members hurry towards their mechs, and Lio laughs at Galo’s pout since there’s no time for theatrics today before they’re shot into the air.

Gueira and Meis are flung towards the opposite side of the building, and before Lio finds purchase on the structure, he thinks he hears a very familiar, childlike flurry of voices whisper in his ear.

_Don’t leave him alone._

He’s dazed for a moment until the feet of his mech land inside the blaze. Lio immediately notices something strange about the fire licking its way along the walls of the building, but he doesn’t have time to think about it, there are still civilians inside.

Galo lands shortly after, almost running into Lio.

“Looks like you’re losing your touch almost as quickly as your shirt,” Lio quips.

“Hey, don’t act like you don’t love it. Come on, let’s get to it!”

And they fall into a rhythm, like they always do. Extinguishing the flames as they rise, snuffing them out with a flourish of their built-in freeze guns. 

But this time is a little different. With every bundle of fire they take care of, another one bursts from floor after floor, loud booms of shattering glass and metal sending shockwaves through the building. Soon, Lio and Galo find themselves exhausted, worn, and torn. 

“Lio, your mech is really damaged. You should head back, I can take care of the rest!”

Lio takes stock of his equipment, one of his arms is barely hanging on by the skin of a metal sheet, and the legs have lost quite a bit of their power. 

“It’s alright, Galo. I’ll be okay. We’ll just have to cover each other.” Lio winces as he flexes the lean muscles in his arms; he definitely took more damage than he thought. 

“Captain, all of the civilians have been evacuated!” Varys shouts through their intercoms.

Relief swells through Lio’s chest and it makes it easier to bear the brunt of his exhaustion. Another loud explosion rumbles on the floor above them, and the ceiling comes crashing down. Lio doesn’t have the time to move out of the way, and he quickly finds himself buried under heavy concrete and metal and glass. He feels the remains of his mech shatter, and he can’t find the strength to move his limbs. His lungs feel heavy and full of smoke, the press of the concrete on his chest not making it any easier to breathe. 

_It’s so hot,_ he thinks, and then he laughs at the irony of being undone by fire. _Lucia might kill me for breaking her mech._

Lio suddenly feels the load of debris get lighter and lighter as Galo unearths him from the scraps of the skyscraper. Lio feels his body being gently cradled by the hands of Galo’s mech and finds the strength to open his eyes. He smiles at the relief blooming across the planes of Galo’s face.

“Lio, you scared the shit outta me!”

“Can’t believe you’d think I’d go down in a fire.” It takes more effort than Lio would like to admit, but he raises his hand and presses it against the green visor of Galo’s mech and for a moment, he thinks they’ll be alright.

He hears Gueira’s panicked voice shout through the speakers.

“Boss! This building is a bust. We have to leave. Now!”

“He’s out of commission right now,” Galo answers. “What do you mean the building is a bust?”

“This isn’t an ordinary fire,” Meis screeches equally panicked. “The blaze is a result of a bunch of fucking bombs.”

“Bombs!?” Galo almost loses his grips on Lio. “Are you serious?” Why are there bombs?”

“Yes we’re fucking serious you damn rooster,” Gueira seethes, “and we all need to leave. We found a giant bomb on the thirteenth floor, and it looks like it’s wired to a bunch of other bombs scattered throughout the building. There’s a timer on it and we only have two minutes.”

Lio watches a quick flash of panic skitter over Galo’s gaze before it’s quickly replaced by unwavering determination.

“Galo,” Lio whispers, “don’t you dare.”

“Lio and I are on the twentieth floor, but his mech bit the dust. I need one of you to come scoop him up, my mech isn’t doin’ too hot either.”

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Lio continues.

“I’m coming!” Meis shouts.

The hand Lio has pressed against Galo’s visor slowly forms into a fist, and he weakly bangs it against the surface. Galo gives him a reassuring smile, and Lio wills himself to not let the sting in his eyes overwhelm him.

“Please,” he begs, “just come back to the truck. There’s nothing we can do.”

Galo’s smile simply softens, and it takes the remainder of Lio’s strength to keep himself together.

“You gotta have more faith in me, Lio.”

“Hey, I’m here! We gotta hurry, we have about a minute and thirty seconds.” Meis’s mech swiftly jumps into the building, but before Galo hands Lio over, the latter makes a request.

“Galo, promise you’ll come back to me.”

“Hey! Come on, everything is gonna be alright,” and Galo’s eyes don’t waver, not even now.

“That’s not what I’m asking,” Lio shuts his eyes for a moment before meeting Galo’s gaze once more, all perfect cerulean and incredibly resolved. “Promise me we’ll go home together after this and feed the cat and go to bed.”

Galo takes a deep breath and slowly exhales, “I promise, Lio.”

_Don’t leave him alone._

Lio’s hand slides off the visor as Meis hurriedly grabs him and darts away from the building, seamlessly diving and landing right on top of the fire truck. The fall is nauseating as hot air smacks Lio’s cheeks and whips his sweaty bangs in the air. Gueira meets them on the roof and gently takes Lio in his arms. 

As the former Mad Burnish trio re-enters the truck, they’re met with confused stares as they all watch Galo swing over to the east side of the building.

“What in the hell is Galo doing?” Lio flinches at the fear straining against the tenor of Varys’s voice.

“He’s going to try to stop the bomb from detonating,” Lio answers.

“What!?” Lucia smashes the communication button on her board. “Galo, get your ass back over here!”

“Galo, I won’t be able to get you out in time, please just let it be.” Aina’s voice is decidedly watery and ripples through Lio’s chest.

“Captain…” Remi whispers. They all turn to face Ignis, who takes off his sunglasses and just stares at the screens as still and as strong as a statue.

They all know Galo has made up his mind. 

Lio glues his eyes to the screen, his chest tightening with every passing second, a wave of panic swirling in his heart like a thick plume of smoke. 

He watches Galo slip out his mech, the hands too big to pry the small latch of the bomb open. The camera on the visor is angled to where they can all see the timer ticking, counting down from thirty seconds in loud, thunderous beeps. Lio tries not to whimper.

“Thymos, just get outta there you idiot!” Gueira sounds furious, but the desperation crawling along the syllables is not lost on Lio.

“No can do, just trust me guys!” Galo picks up a shard of glass and hovers over the tangle of exposed wires. He decides on a yellow wire, cutting it swiftly in two. All of Burning Rescue holds their breath only for nothing to happen. They never exhale, though, because the timer now reads twenty seconds, and Lio’s knees almost buckle.

Galo thinks for a few, precious seconds before settling on a white wire. Nothing. The beeping begins to ring in Lio’s ears. Varys curses under his breath while Remi bites his lip until it bleeds. Galo has ten seconds. 

“Galo, get in your mech, at least!” Aina shouts. 

Galo doesn’t even hesitate before cutting the last wire, and Lio thinks he feels time freeze for half a second before he realizes the beeping never stops. 

Five seconds. 

Galo’ smile is as big and as bright as the sun, pushing his lightly freckled cheeks up into his impossibly blue gaze.

Lio hates it. He hates it. He hates it. _He hates it._

“Hey firebug,” Galo says, and Lio finally lets his tears stream down his face. They’re warm and thick and so, so heavy and Lio hates it, “You don’t mind feeding the cat, do you?”

There’s one final beep before the monitor fills with static, and the truck rattles to the sonic boom piercing through the night. Lio bolts for the roof of the truck. 

The air is hot when it should be cool, the calmness of midnight interrupted by the violence of fire. Reds and oranges and yellows bleed into the dark veil of the sky, and Lio finds himself sickened by it. He watches the skyscraper spit fire through the windows and finally fall into ashes and rubble to the ground. 

All he smells are the cinders flaking into the air, all he feels is the soot caked on his skin, and all he hears is the faint echo of a beep.

Lio lets out the smallest whimper, collapses onto the roof, and closes his eyes.

But before he succumbs to his utter exhaustion, he hears those childlike voices again, warm and familiar, not unlike old friends.

_We’ll help you try again._

***** 

Lio is dispatched from the hospital at nine in the morning, and he sustains a very minor back injury. Meis and Gueira escort him home. They reach the door of his and Galo’s apartment when Lio realizes he hasn’t spoken a word. He turns to face them; Gueira’s eyes are red-rimmed and puffy, and Meis looks like he’s aged ten years. Lio figures he probably doesn’t look much different. 

He opens and then closes his mouth, unsure of what to say. He supposes even if he had the right words, he’d never be able to say them outloud without choking on a sob. So he simply stares at his closest friends before they both reach out and pull him in for a tight hug. Lio feels his knees buckle, but he doesn’t fall, Gueira and Meis both supporting his weight. Lio hiccups into Meis’s shoulder. 

They stay like that for a while, silent and trembling, the only sounds coming from the morning songs of birds and the rustle of leaves billowing through spring’s first breeze. 

When Gueira and Meis head home and Lio enters his apartment, he doesn’t break down like he expects. 

He’s greeted by gentle purrs and the softest orange fur caressing his ankles. He scoops the cat up and cradles her in his arms. 

“Hey Tang,” Lio greets, voice hoarse and jagged with grief. He presses his nose into her neck, and she responds with an affectionate graze of her sandpaper tongue. Lio pads over to the kitchen and places her on the counter, reaching into a cupboard to grab her bowl and scoop.

He doesn’t mind feeding the cat. 

Lio sits on the floor next to her as she eats. He thinks of the time they rescued her, of when they received a call about the tiniest baby kitten stuck in a hole right outside someone’s house. He remembers scooping her out and instantly melting at her eyes as bright and chartreuse as limes. 

_Galo, can...can we take her home?_

_Sure! Only if we get to name her Pizza._

_We’re not naming her Pizza._

Lio wants to laugh at the memory, wants to cry at the memory. He wants to be angry, he wants to be sad, he wants to scream and shout and throw things and kick and punch holes in the wall and slap himself in the face. 

But as he listens to Tang crunch on her breakfast, Lio realizes he feels nothing. His chest feels hollow when it should feel tight and constricted; his eyes feel empty when they should sting with tears. He looks at his hands and notices there’s still a bit of soot under his fingernails.

After he showers and brushes his teeth, he slips into a pair of boxers and one of Galo’s sweaters. He takes a deep breath and sighs in relief when he registers the smell of fresh citrus with the barest hint of mint, just like Galo. 

He walks over to the bed, which suddenly seems too big for the small apartment. Tang is at his heels, and when he finally buries himself under the covers, she snuggles at the top of his head. Lio checks his phone and clears out all the texts and phone calls and voicemails he’s received over the last several hours. He knows he can’t handle them all right now, wonders if he ever will. 

The time declares that it’s almost noon, the numbers stark white against the photo of Galo lying in the grass with a butterfly perched on the tip of his nose that Lio has set as his home screen. He almost smiles before locking his phone and closing his eyes. 

  


Lio wakes in the middle of night with labored breathing and a tightened chest. His arms are outstretched, reaching towards the other side of the bed— _his_ side of the bed. It’s cold when it should be warm, empty where it should be occupied by tan skin and ridiculous blue hair. 

He clutches onto the sheets tightly as he bites down on his quivering lip and narrows his eyes. 

He finally breaks. 

Lio jumps out of bed and startles Tang into hiding. He stares at the empty sheets until his chest is too tight and he finally, _finally_ begins to cry and scream up into the ceiling. He doesn’t stop when he walks over to the closet, yanking out every article of clothing and flinging them across the room. He starts to run aimlessly through the dark, his throat running raw as he continues to wail. He trips over one of Galo’s shoes and falls to the ground, ignoring the bruising and swelling of his knees as they crash into the tile. He throws the shoe at the wall. 

Lio stares at the wall and scrambles to his feet. He wants to punch a hole into the wall. He punches the wall. There’s no hole in the wall. So he continues to punch and punch and punch until his knuckles begin to bleed and several dents are made into the plaster. He slaps his face once, twice for good measure until the tears and the screaming and the wailing become too much and he slowly falls to the floor. He realizes he’s still wearing Galo’s sweater and rips it off, buries his face into the fabric, and cries into the smell of citrus and mint. 

When Lio finally thinks he’s beginning to settle down, he feels an enormous pressure fill every pore scattered along his skin. He drops the sweater as an inescapable warmth begins to envelope and caress every nerve in his body; he feels it in the hollow of his ears, the back of his eyes, and the tips of his fingers. He cries out as the pressure starts to cut off his breathing, but when he hears those childlike voices echo against his skull, Lio registers what’s happening. 

He’s having a Burnish awakening. 

It only takes a few minutes, _just like last time,_ Lio thinks, but soon his head is filled with the encouraging and jovial voices of old friends, and he relaxes into the tingle sparking at the ends of his fingers. 

He stares at his hands before deciding to test out old reflexes. He finds it strange the Promare aren’t asking him to burn, but he tries nonetheless. A few pink and blue pastel triangles flutter out of his hands before dissipating into dust. 

_We’re here to help you try again._

Lio wonders what they mean by that, and instead of trying to summon fire, he lets the Promare flow through his limbs at will, letting them decide which course of action to take. 

A large bundle of triangles of all different colors and sizes erupt from his hand. They hover right in front of him for a few moments until the space around them begins to warp, and they coalesce into a black hole. Lio’s eyes widen and a smile threatens to spread across his face. 

It’s a warp drive. 

_Let’s try again, Lio._

Lio looks at the mess he’s made, his eyes darting from the pile of clothes and to the dents in the wall. His knees don’t hurt anymore and his knuckles have stopped bleeding. He takes a deep breath and then a step forward into nothing—he has nothing else to lose. 

***** 

It happens again on March 19th. 

Lio opens his eyes and he’s met with a cerulean stare sparkling back at him. He feels the pressure of another forehead pressed against his and hears the blaring of sirens. 

“Lio, I know you said you were good, but are you sure?” Galo asks as he pulls away, very much present and alive.

“I…” Lio whispers, and he turns around to see Gueira and Meis hunched over their knees, same toothy grins plastered over their faces. 

“Hey, lovebirds!” Lucia shouts. Lio furrows his brows, “I need the two of you to suit up. Actually, all of you need to suit up. Aina says things are lookin’ kinda bad.”

Ignis gives the same instructions. Remi and Varys are on rescue, Gueira and Meis are launched to the east while Galo and Lio are launched to the west. 

They start putting out fires, going floor to floor until Lio remembers the bombs, but it’s too little too late as the ceiling above collapses on him again. 

“Lio, you scared the shit outta me!” Galo yells as he gently pulls Lio from the wreckage.

Lio just stares at him. Stares and stares and _stares_ until he regains his senses. 

“Galo, we have to go.”

“No, you have to go. I can still put out some fires,” Galo contends.

“No! You don’t understand!” Lio sits up quickly, ignoring the sharp pain that shoots up his spine. 

“Boss! This building is a bust. We have to leave. Now!”

“He’s out of commission right now,” Galo answers. “What do you mean the building is a bust?”

Lio can’t listen to this, not again. 

“Bombs!” He yells. He grabs hold of Galo’s visor, “There’s a giant bomb on the other side of the building, but there’s nothing we can do.”

“Bombs?” Galo’s face contorts in confusion before relaxing into a smile. “I’ll try to stop them, we won’t know until we try.”

“But I do know!” Lio insists. “Please, believe me, Galo. Please…”

“You gotta have more faith in me, Lio.”

“I’m here for the boss!” Meis yells as his mech leaps into the building. Galo tries to hand Lio to Meis, but Lio begins to kick and scream and fight until Galo gives him a pained expression before shoving him into Meis’s care. 

“No! No, no, no, no, no,” Lio pleads, “Galo come back with us, I’m begging you, please.”

“Hey! Come on, everything will be alright.”

Meis leaps onto the roof of the fire truck. Lio is carried into the interior, and Burning Rescue watches as one, two, three wires are cut with no success.

“I’m sorry, firebug,” is what Galo says this time.

***** 

Lio wakes up with a start, jolts upright and takes stock of his surroundings. He’s in his apartment with Tang curled around his feet. It’s the middle of the night and the bed is as cold as ever. 

He stands up and stares at his hand. He huffs out a dark laugh when he hears them.

_Let’s try again._

“Yeah,” Lio whispers, “let’s try again.”

***** 

It always happens on March 19th. 

Their foreheads touch, and Lucia calls them lovebirds and asks them to suit up. Burning Rescue is launched into the air, and Galo and Lio begin to take out the flames. 

This time Lio anticipates the fall of the floor above them and dives out of the way. However, another explosion goes off on the floor they’re on, and Galo pushes Lio out of the building and into the night air. Gueira catches him this time. 

“I owe you my life, Gueira,” Galo says with all the bravado a firefighter in a deteriorating mech can muster. Which is a lot, apparently. “I’m gonna take care of that bomb.”

Lio is in the truck staring at Galo. They’re all in the truck staring at Galo.

“I guess I really am the world’s number one firefighting _idiot._ ”

***** 

Lio wakes up. The bed is cold. He gives Tang a few chin scratches before standing up and out stretching his hands.

_Another, another!_

“Another.”

***** 

This time Lio asks to switch places with Meis to get to the bomb first, but he’s ejected from his mech after a particularly violent explosion, and as he falls towards the earth, Galo catches him and hands him off to Meis. 

Galo just laughs before the screen buzzes to static.

***** 

_Don’t give up!_

“Never.”

***** 

This time Galo pushes Lio out of the way before the ceiling collapses. Lio doesn’t remove all of the debris in time to hear any last words.

***** 

_Try again._

***** 

Another third snip of a wire, and Galo quietly curses before he tells Lio he loves him _so, so much._

***** 

This time when Lio wakes, he runs to the bathroom and vomits. He brings a weak hand up to flush the toilet, and remains hunched over before his resolve brings him to his feet.

_One more time._

He slaps his face once, twice, and enters the portal. 

***** 

Lio doesn’t recognize where he’s landed. There’s no blaring of a siren, no toothy grins from best friends, not even the smack of bubblegum or the reassuring touch of a forehead. 

It’s just...nothing. There’s nothing. Lio finds himself standing in nothing, the expanse of darkness weighing thick and heavy in the air. He summons a small handful of the Promare in his hands, but it adds nothing. 

Panic begins to well in his chest and in his eyes, and soon he’s on his knees and weakly banging his fists onto _nothing_.

“Why can’t I save him?” he whispers in betweens tears. “What am I doing wrong?”

_We just have to try again!_

“I am trying!” Lio is yelling at nothing.

“Yes, you are, but you need to try harder.”

Lio freezes at the unfamiliar voice, it’s not full of impulsive, childlike chatter; it’s old and worn, slightly ragged and, actually, familiar. 

Lio looks up to see a short old man with eyes as blue as winter deep-set on a wrinkled face, which is covered by a large and incredibly fluffy white beard with a matching head of hair. He’s wearing a long, white lab coat. Lio has to rub his eyes to make sure he’s not having the most intense fever dream of his life.

“Deus?”

Deus nods and walks until he’s right in front of Lio. He extends a hand and Lio takes it, getting on his feet and staring wide-eyed at a dead man.

“How are you alive?”

“I’m not,” Deus answers, “but that’s not what’s important here, is it? You’re trying to save your friend, who is just as dead as me. Well, maybe not quite as dead.”

Lio tries not to wince at the casualty of Deus Prometh’s voice mentioning the death of his partner. 

“What do you mean ‘not quite as dead?’” 

The nothingness suddenly warps and transforms into something, a replica of the abandoned Prometh lab hidden under the icy lake. Lio tries not to let his mind linger on the last time he was there, holding onto Galo for dear life as the former tried to teach him how to ice skate. 

Several screens pop up, filling the emptiness of the ‘lab,’ each depicting every single one of Lio’s attempts at saving Galo. All of those last words talking over each other in garbled nonsense. Lio balls his hands into fists, digs his nails into his palms. 

“What I mean is you still have a chance at saving him.”

Lio feels a powerful wave of something light and airy and good flood through his ribcage. He wonders if it’s hope. 

“How?”

Deus just smiles at him, “I can’t tell you.”

Lio lunges at him, grabs him by the collar of his lab coat and lifts him off his feet.

“Why not, dammit!?”

Deus doesn’t even flinch, blue eyes as steadfast as steel. 

“Figure it out.”

Lio’s anger fades as quickly as it manifested, his brows unfurrow and he suddenly realizes he’s so utterly exhausted. He gently situates Deus back on his feet, unleashes the collar, and drops to his knees. 

“Please,” he whispers, “I need to save him.”

Neither of them utter a single word for several minutes, the silence filled only with the ghostly whispers of the screens replaying every single one of Lio’s nightmares. 

Deus lets out a long sigh, “I suppose a hint would be fine.” He snaps his fingers and more screens scatter across the space. They all depict a version of Galo and Lio, but Lio doesn’t recognize a single one. Some look too old to truly be them, some look too new, and some look too...fantastical? Lio can’t decide, doesn’t have the time to let his eyes linger on one for more than a second before the screen is covered by another, and another, and another until the entire lab is filled with screens and screens and screens of all sorts of Galo’s and Lio’s. 

“Deus, what...what is this?”

Another wry smile, “Isn’t it obvious? It’s you and your friend across different lifetimes, dimensions, universes, whichever one you prefer,” Deus says with a wave of his hand.

“I don’t understand,” Lio closes his eyes and pulls at his hair, “How is that even possible?”

“As possible as your Promare returning to you,” Deus says.

Lio raises a brow, “Why did they return to me?”

“I’m not sure. I reckon you were very kind to them during your time together, and when they saw you so distressed, they wanted to return the favor.”

Lio smiles as the Promare affirm this with hushed giggles. 

“Fine, I buy that, but what’s with all,” Lio gestures towards the screens, “ _this_?”

“ _These_ are your solutions.”

“How?”

Deus snaps his fingers again, and all the screens fade to black until they light up once more, each depicting the same image of a white pulse beeping steadily. Lio really fucking hates the beeping. 

“Every single instance of your lives have several things in common, including the early death of your friend.” All of the pulses flat line at the same time, dragging out that thunderous, murderous beep. 

“Stop that,” Lio pleads, and all of the screens vanish and everything and nothing is quiet again. 

“So,” Lio tries, “what do I do?”

“Can you truly not think for yourself?” Deus’s gaze is sharp and piercing, but Lio doesn’t waver, not even a little. He’ll never waver, not if it’s Galo.

Deus softens his expression. “Find what they have in common and go from there.”

Lio stares at him, incredulous. He thinks of the hundreds and hundreds of screens that littered the space.

“In _all_ of them?”

“I don’t think it will take that many for you to find the pattern.”

It’s quiet, and they both just look at each other until Lio gets his bearings and flexes his hands.

_Let’s try again!_

“Deus, how do I even get to a different version of ourselves?” Lio is suddenly nervous, the sheer, unbelievable reality of it all weighing heavier than the nothing, an odd sort of finality.

“Let the Promare guide you, they helped you with the warp drive, didn’t they?”

“Yeah, they did.”

“I should also mention,” Deus continues, “the high chance you’ll forget your entire purpose once you switch.”

“Maybe I will,” Lio says, “but I can’t imagine a lifetime where I won't reach for Galo.”

_Come on, Lio. Let’s go save him!_

Lio smiles and it’s small and subtle and soft, but it fills him with so much warmth and so much hope he can’t help but breathe out a laugh.

He outstretches his hands and trusts the Promare to materialize the portal. But he hesitates and looks back at Deus.

“Why is this happening? Why am I being given this chance?” Lio feels stupid for asking, for questioning second chances, but he asks anyway.

Deus just shrugs, “Why was it the two of you who crashed into my lab buried under the ice all those years ago?”

Lio laughs, really laughs, hums a thank you, and takes a step out of nothing.

***** 

The sea breeze is crisp and warm against Lio’s sun-kissed cheeks. It breathes all around him, whirling salt and ocean spray against his billowy white shirt. He peers over the wooden railing of the ship and stares over the horizon. 

Lio doesn’t remember the last time he’s seen a day so incredibly clear, so impossibly calm. The sky is as bright and as blue as canaries, and the few clouds hanging up above are light and wispy, as if each one was a delayed afterthought of a painter’s brush stroke. It’s a lovely contrast, he thinks, to the dark blue waters below; an amalgamation of sharp teals and soft midnight ebbing and flowing against the side of the ship. 

Lio can’t help but smile at all the blue, all bright and brilliant, but his smile grows when he decides none of it matches the sparkling splendor of his new friend. He thinks of iridescent blue scales catching and refracting the sun rays seeping through the cracks of the grotto. He thinks of curiously soft blue hair and eyes so deep and cerulean with a funny little spot of vermillion at their center. He thinks of diving into the cool blanket of the ocean, enlacing his fingers with blue webbed ones, and swimming with no clear direction for the first time in his life; an afternoon filled with water-filled ears, echoing laughter, and unconditional friendship. 

_“What’s your name?”_

_“Lio, why?”_

_“Wow, I’ve never heard a name like that before.”_

_“Well then, what’s yours?”_

_“Galo!”_

_“I’ve never heard a name like yours, either.”_

_“You know, your name sounds kinda...pretty, like you!”_

Lio’s cheeks flush the faintest of champagne pink in tandem with another breeze. 

He desperately wants to return the grotto, but that’s not why he and his crew have docked on the island in the first place.

“Captain,” a sweet, gentle voice calls from his left, “the crew is ready to explore the island again whenever you’re ready.”

“Thank you, Thyma,” Lio turns to his First Mate and is met with a tender smile. The warmth of her soft sienna hair curls around her face, her beautiful brown skin glows under the sunlight. He looks right into her eyes as green as seaglass, a little narrowed in an almost-knowing playful sort of way. 

“What is it?” he asks. 

“You look like you’ve been daydreaming,” her voice is as sing-song and melodic as ever, and Lio thinks sirens could learn a thing or two. 

“I’m just thinking of someone.”

“Oh, is it a lover, perhaps?” His blush deepens into a bright shade of carmine, and Thyma gently laughs. 

“I...it isn’t like that.”

“Captain, it’s alright to think of someone special,” she reaches up and fixes the tilt of his hat, her fingers trailing down the side of the pinned black feather, “the way you were staring out towards the sea, it’s a lovely look on you.”

“Thyma, I think you’re the only person who could say something like that to me without making me bristle.”

“What about Gueira and Meis?”

“I think I would throw them overboard for even suggesting those things.”

They both share a laugh before making their way off the ship and onto the beach. They meet up with Gueira, Meis, and a few other members of the crew while the rest keeps watch on the ship.

Lio leads his crew through the thick jungle of the island with a faded, almost unreadable map in his hands. A few hours pass, and he can feel the frustration seeping from his tired companions. They’ve been on the island for a few days looking for the fabled Ex Machina treasure, but with such an old and worn map, they were having difficulty pinpointing its location. 

If Lio thinks he’s already found a worthwhile treasure, one that he deems precious enough to slip out of the ship during the deep hours of night to try and find him again, he keeps that to himself. There’s a strange sensation that tugs at the back of his mind during the evenings, and he feels like he should be looking a little harder for his new friend. 

“Ugh, we’ve been walking for so long, can we take a break?”

“Gueira,” Meis says with a roll of his eyes, “we took one thirty minutes ago.”

“But it’s hot and sticky in this jungle, surely another break wouldn’t put us that far behind. We haven’t even found anything yet.”

“Inspiring as always,” and Meis’s words earn him a sharp punch to the shoulder, which he returns swiftly, and soon they’re both wrestling on the ground.

“Alright, enough!” Lio asserts, “we don’t have time to—”

“Captain!” One of Lio’s boatswains is sprinting full force towards the crew. His face is alarmed and full of panic.

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s a large ship underway, and it’s closing the distance quickly. We think it’s Kray, Captain.”

Lio almost rips the map in half before pulling the reins on his anger.

“We need to get back to the ship.”

They sprint across the jungle and onto the beach, the crew members sprawling onto the deck and waiting for Lio’s instruction. He doesn’t even have to look through his spyglass to see the bright white ship barreling its way to them. 

“I want every single gunner in position and every crew member with pistols and swords out. There’s no need for the swinging ropes, none of you are dying on that fucking ship. If they want close combat, they’re going to come to us.” Kray has been at Lio’s heels for years, desperately searching for the same fabled treasure buried on the island. It doesn’t matter, though, because Kray would have to pry that treasure out of his cold dead hands, and Lio was very good at not dying. 

After all, he was the captain of the Mad Burnish pirate crew. 

They’re able to sail away from the island, giving them enough space to properly engage with their rivals, but the Foresight, in all of its gaudy gold trim, sneaks up on them sooner than expected, and soon orders to fire are given from both sides, and the thunderous booms of cannonfire ring in Lio’s ears. 

The smoke and stink of gunpowder plumes into the air, gray clouding over the blue. Members of the Foresight swing over onto his ship, and every able body is engaged in some sort of combat to the tune of cannonfire and splintering wood. With a flourish of his sword, Lio disarms several opposing pirates, pushing them overboard but taking care to not mortally wound them. He won’t chastise his mates for bloodied hands in this battle, but if Lio can avoid it, he will. 

It’s not long before he runs into Kray, large and imposing with a harpoon of all weapons. The ensuing fight is wordless, the only noise emitting from the clash of metal on metal, and the occasional grunt of a mistimed punch. Kray is smirking the whole time, though, and it makes Lio’s blood boil and his mind seethe with rage. 

Lio becomes careless with his movements, and he’s disarmed moments later. The kick he receives right in the middle of his chest is powerful and crushing, and Lio is sure he’s broken several ribs. 

When his body smacks into the ocean, it doesn’t hurt like he expects to; he just feels cold and heavy as he sinks further and further. 

He stares at the surface and smiles at the way the sun shimmers right on the edge of the sea, it reminds him of glittering blue scales. 

He feels webbed hands embrace him from behind and pull him towards the surface. Lio winces as he turns to look at his savior; Galo is looking up towards their destination, towards a world full of air and clear, blue days. Lio suddenly doesn’t feel cold anymore. 

When they break the surface, Lio is still facing Galo, back turned towards the ship. They hold on to each other, and Lio melts at the sight of the most beautiful smile, of the most beautiful pair of eyes. 

It’s all pure bliss until Galo looks past him and his face contorts in horror. Before Lio can ask him what’s wrong, he’s shoved to the side and the ugly sound of flesh and cartilage being cleanly pierced rattles his skull.

He watches Galo look up from the harpoon spearing him through his chest to give him a weak smile before sinking into the sea. The ever growing flow of blood clouds the sheen of Galo’s scales.

 _We’ll help you try again._

***** 

Lio wakes up coughing, and the sensation of drowning almost sends him into a frenzy until he realizes he’s gripping the sheets of his bed. He sits up to find Tang staring at him. He lets out a long sigh before cradling her in his arms. 

They sit like that for a bit, the only light illuminating the room is from the glow of the moon peeking through the curtains. 

Lio gives Tang a small kiss on her forehead and sets her back down on the edge of the bed. He whimpers before opening another portal.

***** 

_I could stay like this forever,_ Lio thinks as he shivers under Galo’s calloused touch. He relishes in the way Galo goes soft and pliant when he kisses him, shudders at the way those hands grab the back of his thighs and hitch his legs up—Lio wraps his legs around his waist in response. Their kisses go from light and chaste to heavy and bruising in a matter of seconds. Lio fists into Galo’s hair as he moves towards Lio’s neck, trailing down the length with kisses until he reaches the crook of his neck—he bites down and Lio groans and rolls his hips into Galo, who curses and accidentally knocks over a potted flower. The pot shatters, and dirt scatters everywhere. 

__

__

“Maybe we shouldn’t be doing this on a table in the back of a flower shop,” Galo says before getting up and standing on his feet. He pulls Lio alongside him a moment later.

“Why? Afraid the owner is going to be mad?”

“You’re the owner of the shop!”

“Exactly,” Lio answers as he begins to work on undoing the buttons of Galo’s shirt, “which means we’re in the clear.”

Galo gently grabs Lio’s wrists. “As much as I want to do this right now, I can’t.”

“Sure you can. You don’t have class for another few hours, and even if you did have class soon, who needs a masters degree anyway?” 

“Lio...”

“I’m just teasing,” Lio says before planting an affectionate kiss on Galo’s cheek. They take a few minutes to fix their clothes, buttons are re-buttoned and aprons are re-tied. 

“So why do you need to leave?”

“My mom sent me a package, but they won’t deliver it to my apartment because people keep stealing them from everyone’s doorsteps. I have to go to the post office on fifth, which is really annoying because that means I won’t have time to study for my exam.”

A strange wave of dread overwhelms Lio for a second, which prompts him to ask, “Do you want me to grab it for you? I can ask Gueira or Meis to come in a little early, that way you have time to study.”

“Nah, you have a whole shop to run.” Galo brings one of Lio’s hands to his lips and presses a tender kiss on the back. If it were anyone else, Lio would have laughed, but something about the genuine chivalry of Galo Thymos sends shivers down his spine. “It’s alright. I don’t mind grabbing it. I think I’m a little whiny because I want to spend more time with you.”

“Sap,” Lio says as they both make their way to the front of the flower shop. It’s Lio’s pride and joy, and his heart swells at the sight of the motley assortment of colors spanning the walls of his store in the form of soft, delicate petals. Vines hang feather light from the ceiling, and the green tendrils curl in the air and sometimes caress his cheeks _just so_ , as if thanking him for always taking care of them.

“Hey, you’re the one who gave me a honeysuckle the first day we met.”

“And now it’s your favorite flower and that same honeysuckle is dried and framed in your room,” Lio laughs. 

“It’s my second favorite flower,” Galo starts before pulling Lio in for a hug. “You’re my first favorite flower.”

“Ugh,” Lio pulls away and gives Galo a small smile. “What kind of flower am I, though?”

“Lavender, duh!”

“But of course,” Lio opens the shop door and shoves Galo outside. “Go be productive.”

Galo’s laugh is loud and beautiful and does so many wonderful things to Lio.

“Yeah, I’ll see you later, Lio!”

Lio is in the back of the shop and he’s arranging a bouquet for a customer. As he makes his way towards the door to the front, he turns to listen to the news playing on the tiny television perched on the table. There’s been a horrific train crash, the green and red line have collided with each other in an unfortunate series of errors. Most of the passengers on the red line survived, but the ones on the green line were not as lucky. 

Lio almost vomits on the spot, his chest tightens and he feels like he’s about to choke and collapse. 

Galo has to ride the green line to dive deeper into the city.

Lio drops the vase of chrysanthemums instead. 

_Don’t give up._

***** 

Lio wakes up in tears. He doesn’t sit up right away, and instead he curls into himself under the covers. He feels Tang shift at the wriggle of his toes struggling to find warmth. He clutches his stomach and closes his eyes. 

Lio counts to three and finally sits up. He wipes away the dried tears staining his cheeks and grits his teeth.

***** 

The rumble of Galo’s motorcycle vibrates through Lio’s body as he tightens his hold on Galo’s waist. A rainbow spitfire of colors trails behind them, matching the tips of Galo’s ridiculous faux hawk. Lucia skates by in her armor, yellow flames sparking and flaring with every kick of her feet. Aina flies up above in her armored plane, pink and red triangles lighting up the sky. He rolls his eyes as Galo whoops and hollers towards their goal but can’t help the smile that tugs at the corners of his mouth. 

As a firefighter who’s pursued the Mad Burnish trio for a long time, Lio Fotia finds it ironic and a little funny that he thinks they’re actually kind of cool.

It’s incredibly infuriating, however, that he finds Galo Thymos to be undeniably attractive in his stupid leather pants and stupid spiked boots and his stupid piercings with his stupid pecs peeking out of his stupid leather jacket because he’s never heard of a proper shirt, probably. Lio just holds on to his waist tighter, he doesn’t have time to think about the way Galo’s bravado makes his heart freeze before skipping over one, two, or three beats at a time. 

Their destination is the Foresight Foundation to take on Kray once and for all. After the earth-shattering reveal of Kray’s hidden malice, Lio thought he’d be excited to finally confront him. But something isn’t sitting right with him, as if he and Galo missed a certain step and should rewind. 

It doesn’t matter, though, because as they get closer to the ugly building, a loud crash echoes through the city, and a giant fighting robot emerges from the Foresight Foundation. 

“What in the hell is that?” Galo yells.

“The ugliest robot I’ve ever seen in my life,” Lucia quips.

“Do you think we’ll even be able to stop that thing?” Aina asks from her plane. Lio can hear her in Galo’s ear. “It’s huge.”

“Of course we can! We’re Mad Burnish, we’re unstoppable.”

“I arrested the three of you several days ago,” Lio reminds him.

Galo lets out an exasperated groan, “Okay, but we let you win that one!”

“Sure you did,” is all Lio says.

“Listen here, Fotia, I—”

“We don’t have time to argue!” Lio begins to speak into his own ear piece, “Gueira, Meis, I could really use my mech right now.”

The Burning Rescue truck that’s been tailing close behind suddenly speeds up next to them, and Lio jumps off the buzzing bike and onto the truck. Moments later, Thyma launches him along with Gueira and Meis, all suited in their mechs. Lio whips out his sword and twirls it around his wrist as he lands next to Galo again. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t love theatrics as much as Galo does. 

Galo dons his Burnish armor and seems to summon it with more fanfare than usual, and Lio laughs at his attempt to out-do his gusto. 

The six of them close in on the giant robot, and Lio realizes Kray is the one piloting the ugly thing. 

“Galo!” he yells.

“I see him!” Galo responds, “Now’s our chance!” Lio so desperately wants to believe him, but something is certainly off.

Galo and Lucia manifest paths for themselves to get closer to Kray. The Burning Rescue trio leaps into the air, ready to engage with Kray while Aina begins to shoot fire from her plane. 

At first, it seems like they’re winning. The giant mech is enveloped in yellow and pink and red and rainbow flames, a fiery beacon of evil burning to ash. Lio, Gueira, and Meis are able to chip off some of the plating, their freeze guns and weapons slowly making a dent. 

But after a few minutes of dazzling, hopeful infernos, Krayzor X, as Galo began to call it, took action. 

It easily shakes off the flames licking their way up the metal. Kray takes Aina out of commission first, grabs her out of the air like a child plucking a grape off a plate and throws her into the night. Lucia attempts to follow, but she’s slapped off her feet and flies into a nearby building. Guira and Meis jump high in the air, right in front of the window of the mech, but Kray gives them a ghastly smile before pummeling them deep into the ground. 

Lio returns to Galo’s side, and they’re both gritting their teeth as Krayzor X approaches them.

“You think we should give up, Fotia?”

“Not a chance in Hell.”

“Good, then we’re on the same page!”

They both run towards Kray at the same, Galo in rainbow bursts of fire and Lio in lithe leaps of ice. Before they close the distance, the robot stops moving, and the duo cease their own advances out of caution. 

“What the shit is he doing?”

Lio’s eyes widen in disbelief when he realizes the mech is powering up. 

“Galo, we need to move, now!” he yells, but it’s entirely too late. A bright, white laser is shot at the two of them, and it’s velocity can’t be matched. Or so Lio thinks before Galo kicks him out of the way. 

“Galo, no!”

Galo manifests a tall wall of fire, a feeble attempt at negating the laser. Any bit of the attack that isn’t blocked by Galo’s shield ricochets off buildings and turns them into terrain. Lio watches Galo’s heels dig into the ground, watches him bite his lip and furrow his brows. 

The laser is too much, and it finally shatters the shield. The laser dissipates into the air.

“No,” Lio whispers as he scrambles towards Galo’s body. He’s surprised the laser didn’t decimate him completely, but he supposes he underestimated the tenacity of Galo and his shield. 

It doesn’t matter anyway. Galo is turning to ash right in Lio’s arms.

“Hey Lio,” a hand reaches up and caresses his cheek, “don’t cry. I thought we made a pretty good team.”

Lio chokes on a sob, unable to mutter any words. Galo gives him one more wonderful smile before he disappears in Lio’s arms. His hand is the last to go. 

_We’ll figure out!_

***** 

Lio is awake and he’s screaming into nothing. He’s not in his bed, there’s no Tang—there’s absolutely nothing. He spots Deus standing a few feet away, a pitying look leaking out of the wrinkles of his face.

“I see you still haven’t figured it out.”

“Don’t look at me like that.” Lio stretches his hands and tries to summon a portal, but his Promare stay quiet, and he lets out a frustrated cry. 

“Perhaps you should listen to what I have to say.”

“Why? So you can tell me that you can’t give me any hints? That you can’t give me a fucking shred of an idea of how to bring him back to me?”

“Don’t be so presumptuous,” Deus takes a few steps forward, “I’ve developed a soft spot for the two of you, you know.”

Lio wants to be angry, he wants to throw a first or three at the old man smiling at him, wants to kick and scream at him until he’s blue in the face.

But Lio can’t, he’s just so, _so_ tired. 

Deus gives him a long sigh, “Do you see the pattern?” 

“Yes,” Lio whispers, “I do.”

“And?”

Lio balls his hands into fists. “Galo saves my life one way or another, and then he dies.”

“And what do you think?”

“I think...” and Lio doesn’t stop himself from falling to the ground, doesn’t stop the hot tears dripping down his face. “I think this is stupid. It’s stupid! How many times do I have to watch him die before he doesn’t?”

“Have you considered,” Deus starts, “the balance of all things?”

“Balance?”

“The universe is give and take, and what is given cannot outweigh what is taken, and vice versa.”

Lio has to think on it for a moment, but then it clicks and he’s seething with rage.

“Galo isn’t a murderer, and neither am I.”

“Nobody said anything about murder.”

Lio is confused, completely and utterly baffled. _What is Deus even talking about?_ What could he trade for Galo’s life that isn’t another one?

And then he smiles, a dark little thing, and he gets on his feet. He can hear the childlike chatter again. 

_Let’s go, Lio!_

“I understand what I have to do.” Lio opens a warp drive, but before he enters, he hears Deus’s voice for the last time.

“Do you?”

***** 

Lio is plunged into the depths of the ocean, and he’s sinking fast. He doesn’t pay attention to the ache in his ribs, his eyes focused on the way the sunrays hover over the edge of the sea. It reminds him of glittering chandeliers and iridescent scales. 

He’s carried to the surface by cold, webbed hands. His gaze crashes into an endless whirlpool of cerulean, he melts into the familiar smile and the tender hold.

Lio is facing the ship, and he watches Kray wind up to throw his harpoon. Lio pushes Galo of the way, and the sound of metal plunging into his own chest sings in the air. 

***** 

The chest pains are sharp and loud when Lio wakes. He almost kicks Tang off the bed. 

***** 

“Look,” Lio turns his phone towards Galo, “I already texted them, they don’t mind covering for me. Let me collect your package.”

“Haha, package.”

“Shut up,” Lio says with a playful tone.

“Really Lio, you don’t have to.”

“But I want to, and you need to do well on your tests so you can graduate and get your smarty pants degree.”

“Alright,” Galo gives him a chaste kiss, and Lio walks on air, “only because I can’t say no to you.”

Lio tilts his head at the sound of the train blaring down the underground. He carefully boards the green line.

***** 

This time Lio hurts all over, and Tang meows something soft and melancholic from the floor.

***** 

Krayzor X begins powering up, and Galo kicks Lio to the side. 

Galo manifests his wall of fire, and Lio watches Galo’s heels dig into the ground, watches him bite his lip and furrow his brows, watches the shield crack and break with each passing second; an impossible flurry of bright, white light edging out the colors of a rainbow. 

Lio winces as he gets to his feet. He sprints over to Galo and pushes him out of the way as hard as he can.

The shield disintegrates. 

***** 

The bed is cold, as always. Tang isn’t even there this time. 

***** 

It’s March 19th again.

The ceiling above them finally collapses, and Galo pushes Lio out of the way.

“Don’t get crushed on me now, Lio!”

“As if,” Lio scoffs. 

“Boss! This building is a bust. We have to leave. Now!” Gueira’s voice is pitched and panicked.

“What’s going on?”

“This isn’t an ordinary fire,” Meis screeches. “The blaze is a result of a bunch of fucking bombs.”

“Bombs!?” The duo yells in unison. Lio lets out a breathy sigh. 

“I’m on it.”

“The hell you are!” Galo contends, “I’m coming with you.”

“No, you’re not. Your mech is in worse shape than mine.”

“What are you talking about? It’s fine!” One of the arms of Galo’s mech falls off its hinges. 

“Don’t worry Galo, I’ll come back to you. Go to the truck.”

“That better be a promise, firebug.”

“Of course it is.”

Lio cuts one, two, three wires, and the screen cuts to static.

***** 

Lio wakes up in nothing. 

There’s nothing, and Deus is nowhere to be seen. 

Lio is lying down on nothing, arms and legs sprawled out and reaching towards nothing. He slowly breathes in, and then out, the exhaustion of it all seeping into every pore. He tries to wiggle his toes and flex his fingers, but when he tilts his head to look at his limbs, he sees his body begin to trickle into ash.

Lio starts laughing hysterically, tears flowing freely from the corners of his eyes.

 _“I did it,”_ he thinks, _“I finally did it.”_

_Lio…_

_“Don’t be sad, it’s better this way. The world can’t exist without Galo Thymos. I won’t let it.”_

Lio watches his ashes trickle up into the air. He can’t stop smiling, he can’t stop crying. 

_“It’s over.”_

His ashes spiral upwards into a circle. Lio closes his eyes.

_One more time._

***** 

Lio is trying to walk down the large steps towards the playground. He wonders why he almost falls with every step, wonders why he can’t just keep his balance when his feet find purchase.

Well, he’s not frustrated for long, he’s only five years old after all. 

He finally makes it to the bottom step, but he loses his footing, and soon he’s falling in the air until someone runs in front of him and catches him before he hits the concrete. The stranger falls to his knees. 

“Hey! You gotta be more careful, I don’t think my mom has any more band-aids to share.”

Lio says nothing, and stares at his savior. He’s got wild blue hair and equally wild blue eyes. He’s sporting a large grin, and one of his front teeth is missing. He looks to be around Lio’s age, and Lio almost smiles until his attention darts to the other child’s grazed knees. Lio starts to cry.

“Whoa! What’s wrong?”

“You’re bleeding,” Lio points to his knees. The other kid just laughs.

“Oh, that’s okay! As long as you’re okay. Are you okay?”

Lio sniffles and rubs his eyes before slowly nodding.

“Cool! What’s your name? My name is Galo! My dad calls me his little rooster, though. It’s kinda embarrassing.”

“My name is Lio.”

“Lio? I like that name. Come on, let’s go play!” Galo grabs hold of Lio’s little hand and pulls him along towards the playground. They build sandcastles in the sandbox, feel the artificial wind whirl through their hair as they swing, and tumble down slide after slide together.

“Lio, I wanna go on the monkey bars!”

“Aren’t those for the big kids?”

“Says who?” Galo is already tugging Lio towards the monkey bars. 

“My mom! She says they’re too high.”

“Maybe,” Galo says. He climbs the metal stairs of the playground and jumps up to grab hold of the first bar, “but if I fall, you’ll be there to catch me, right?”

“I…” Lio hesitates, unsure if he actually will be able to catch Galo if he falls. But as he looks up into that determined blue gaze and toothless grin, Lio makes up his mind.

“Yeah, I’ll catch you!”

“Cool!”

Galo begins to latch onto the bars, one after the other, and Lio thinks he’s doing it entirely too fast. On one of his transitions, Galo misses the bar, and he loses his grip. Lio panics for a moment, but he remembers the lack of hesitation on Galo’s part when he saved him from falling down the stairs. 

He reaches up towards a falling Galo and catches him, kind of. Galo lands in his arms, but they still tumble to the ground, both laughing at the silliness of falling. 

“See! I’m okay, Lio. You caught me.”

“Yeah, I did!” Lio’s chest swells with pride at the look on Galo’s face.

“I saved you, and then you saved me. If we always save each other, we’ll always be okay!” Galo yells. The call of his name grabs his attention, and gives Lio a regretful smile. “My mom is calling me. I hope we can play again soon, Lio!”

“Yeah, me too.” Lio thinks he hears his own mom call his name, but it’s more than one voice, and they kind of also sound like kids.

***** 

Lio opens his eyes to Tang sleeping soundly on his chest. He slowly scoops her into his arms and sits up. A smile blossoms on his face, and it grows and grows and grows until his cheeks burn and Lio begins to giggle uncontrollably. 

He lifts Tang up into the air.

“I figured it out!” He cries, “I know what to do!”

_Let’s go save him!_

Lio gently places her back on the bed before opening a portal.

***** 

He’s underwater, and the illuminated surface of the ocean is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful despite the chaos happening up above. Lio can’t feel his chest anymore, but it doesn’t matter because soon he’s pulled up by a new friend and they break the surface.

Galo, all glittering scales and cerulean blue, holds Lio in his arms and smiles. Lio smiles back and almost buries his face into the crook of his friend’s neck before he remembers what’s happening. His back is turned to the ship, but he whips around to see Kray readying his harpoon. 

Lio only has a few seconds to think, but it’s all he needs. He musters the remainder of his strength to grab onto Galo’s shoulders, and he pushes down. They curl into each other in the coolness of the water. The harpoon pierces past them, and continues its course towards the murky depths of the sea. 

_“Are you okay?”_ Galo asks.

Lio answers with a nod. 

When they break the surface again, Kray is fuming on the edge of the ship. A misfired cannon smacks him right in the torso. 

***** 

Lio wakes up laughing and the bed feels a little warmer. Tang licks his nose.

***** 

“Lio, I really have to go if I want to give myself some kind of time to study after picking up my mom’s package,” Galo huffs out a heavy breath, and Lio wraps his legs around Galo even tighter, tugs at his hair even harder and whispers small praises above the slightly freckled surface of his neck.

“That package won’t go anywhere, just pick it up after class,” Lio breathes into the shell of his ear, and Galo shudders and holds him impossibly closer. 

“Ah,” Galo shivers as Lio nips at his earlobe, “I don’t know. We’re on a table in a flower shop for crying out loud.”

“Galo,” Lio’s voice changes, and he levels his gaze with his. “Stay with me,” he says hovering over Galo’s lips.

“Okay.” He doesn’t knock over the potted iris this time.

A man named Kray Foresight steps onto the green line. 

***** 

The bed is warm, warm, _warm_ , and the moonlight refracts off the lime green panels of Tang’s eyes. 

***** 

After slapping each other around and plummeting into the dense surface of the icy lake, Galo and Lio find themselves in a large expanse of darkness. A few lights click on overheard, illuminating a path towards an elevator. Lio tries not to think about how the tungsten glow of the lamps tuck into the crevices of Galo’s stupid exposed chest. 

“Where the hell are we?”

“No idea,” Lio answers, “might as well try to figure it out.”

They walk into the elevator, and it brings them down to a lab. They meet Deus Prometh, or what remains of him, and he tells them the truth about the Promare and of Kray. At some point, Lio thinks he see’s Deus give him a pointed look, but he can’t tell, the guy doesn’t exactly have a body. 

“Huh, so they’re alien lifeforms,” Galo stares at his hands as his Promare sparks at his fingertips. “That’s why it always sounds like they’re talkin’ to me.”

Deus gives them the Deus X Machina with Galo as the engine and Lio as the pilot. It doesn’t take long for Galo to change the exterior and rename it Lio de Galon. 

They face off against Kray, who manages to gain the upper hand and captures Galo. Lio saves him from the warp drive and brings him back from the ashes.

And they finally save the world. 

“We make a good team, don’t cha’ think?” Galo says as they look over the horizon of a tattered Promepolis.

“Yeah,” Lio agrees, “we do.”

***** 

Lio wakes up laughing, and Tang meows in tandem with his snorts.

***** 

It finally happens on March 19th. 

The ceiling collapses and both Lio and Galo jump out of the way in time. They pause amidst all the explosions to stare and laugh at each other.

“We could have bit the dust there!” Galo shouts.

“Yeah,” Lio breathes, “we could have.”

Lio hears Gueira’s panicked voice shout through the speakers.

“Boss! This building is a bust. We have to leave. Now!”

“What’s happening?” 

“This isn’t an ordinary fire,” Meis yells just as panicked, “The blaze is a result of a bunch of fucking bombs.”

“Bombs? Lio, you don’t think…”

“We found a giant bomb on the thirteenth floor,” Gueira continues, “ and it looks like it’s wired to a bunch of other bombs scattered throughout the building. There’s a timer on it and we only have two minutes.”

Lio frowns in confusion, but holds steadfast. “I don’t know, Galo. But we have to stop it.”

“Oh no, firebug. You’re not goin’ over there alone.”

“Of course not,” Lio looks at him, incredulous, “we’re in this together. I’m your favorite partner, remember?”

“How could I forget?”

They swing over to the east side of the building and find the bomb. They slip out of their mechs to open the latch, the beeping ringing loud and thunderous in Lio’s ears, but he’s reassured by Galo’s smile.

They each cut one wire and share a look before cutting the last one together. The screen never cuts to static.

***** 

_Congratulations, Lio!_

_“Thank you. Thank you so much. What happens now?”_

_We’ll take care of the rest._

_“You’re leaving?”_

_Yes, but we’ll never forget you!_

***** 

Lio wakes up to the morning songs of birds right outside the bedroom window, and he finds it incredibly annoying. So he grabs a pillow from Galo’s side of the bed buries his head underneath it. 

When Lio realizes the pillow is a little warm and it’s morning instead of night, he almost falls out of the bed. 

He looks around the room and doesn’t notice anything particularly different. Tang is still lazily draped over the edge of the bed, and the bed is still empty.

But it’s morning. 

And then Lio registers the smell of pancakes wafting through the apartment. He scrambles for his phone and unlocks it. He can’t help but stare at the date hovering right above the butterfly perched on Galo’s nose.

It’s March 21st, the second day of spring. 

Lio leaps out of the bed and quickly pads over to the kitchen, where he sees a tall man with freckled, tan skin tossing pancakes over the stove. He’s wearing a pink apron over a bare chest because of course he’s not wearing a shirt. 

“Galo,” he whispers. It’s barely audible over the sizzling of the pan, but Galo hears him anyway and rewards him with the most dazzling smile Lio has ever seen.

“Hey firebug, how many pancakes do you want?”

Lio can’t find the words, any words, and instead he walks over to Galo and just stands in front of him, too afraid to reach out and touch him, afraid that once his fingers make contact, Galo will disappear in a puff of smoke.

But he doesn’t have to reach out, because Galo is already cupping both sides of his face and that’s all it takes to release the sting in his eyes. 

Lio begins to cry and cry and cry until all he can feel is the stickiness of his tears. But Galo wipes them away ever so gently with a calloused hand.

“Whoa, whoa. Lio, what’s wrong?”

It takes several seconds, but Lio regains control of his breathing, grabs onto Galo’s hands pressed against his face, and concentrates on that crimson dot right in the middle of those cerulean eyes—that burning soul. 

“T-there was that call,” Lio hiccups, “and...and you…”

“Which call? We haven’t had any dangerous ones in a while.”

Lio looks at him, confused, “The one with the bombs.”

Galo’s face darkens for a second before softening again, “Lio, we didn’t have a call with bombs. We gotta stop watching the news so late.”

“The news?” Lio isn’t grasping any of this.

“Yeah, you don’t remember? Someone snitched on Kray and told the feds he was plannin’ on setting off bombs with help from the outside to grab Burning Rescue’s attention and take us out,” Galo’s eyes narrow, “but when they went to the prison to question him, he had a heart attack a few minutes before the interrogation and died.”

“A heart attack…” Lio has stopped crying, but he hasn’t moved his attention away from Galo’s gaze.

“Yeah, he’s gone, Lio.”

Lio just stands there, unsure of what he should do. Should he tell Galo about what happened? Keep it to himself? Was all of this really the right thing to do? Did any of it happen?

“Hey, if you want to go back to bed, I can eat all the pancakes I already made. You seem a little out of it.”

Lio says nothing, and instead wraps his arms around Galo’s neck and buries his face into the crook.

“No, I want to stay here with you.”

Galo hugs him back just as tightly. “Well, no worries! We’re already here and with pancakes.” He rubs gentle circles around Lio’s back. “What has you so riled up anyway? Anything I can do?”

“I...just thought of a world without you in it,” Lio answers, “and if you could just...stay with me, I think I’ll feel a lot better.”

“I’m not goin’ anywhere, firebug.” 

“Good,” Lio holds on to Galo even tighter, and quietly laughs into his skin. He relishes in the way the aroma of citrus and mint mingles with the sweet smell of pancakes. 

**Author's Note:**

> Why yes, I did insert my flower shop au in here. I’m self-indulgent, sue me. Also, I’m driving the car here. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, this fic was a labor of love. 
> 
> Title is from Afterlife by Arcade Fire.
> 
> Twitter: @jenstarlol


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